Whether reflecting on anti-Semitism in stories such as “Story of My Dovecote” and “First Love,” or depicting Jewish gangsters in his native Odessa, Babel’s eye for the comical laid bare the ironies of history. One of the most powerful short-story writers of the twentieth century, Isaac Babel expressed his sense of inner conflict through disturbing tales that explored the contradictions of Russian society. By turns flamboyant and restrained, this collection of Babel’s best-known stories vividly expresses the horrors of his age. His masterpiece, “Red Cavalry,” set in the Soviet-Polish war, is one of the classics of modern fiction. Из серии: Penguin Classics
2005